sensitivity
Pluralsensitivities
- 1Being quick to notice or feel things, or to care about other people's feelings.
Like soft skin that feels even a light touch.
Her sensitivity to criticism made the feedback session hard for her.
He spoke to the grieving family with great sensitivity.
Similartact, delicacy, empathy, awareness, perceptiveness
Oppositeinsensitivity, callousness, tactlessness
Note
- 2The ability of a living thing to notice and react to things around it.
Like an alarm that goes off when something changes nearby.
A plant's sensitivity to light helps it grow toward the window.
The skin's sensitivity warns us when something is too hot.
Similarresponsiveness, reactivity, susceptibility
Oppositeinsensitivity, unresponsiveness
Note
- 3How easily a germ or illness can be killed or stopped by a medicine.
Like a weed that dies quickly when the right spray is used.
Doctors tested the bacteria's sensitivity to several antibiotics.
The tumor's sensitivity to the drug gave the family hope.
Similarsusceptibility, vulnerability
Oppositeresistance, immunity
Note
- 4How strongly a device reacts to small changes in what it measures.
Like a smoke alarm that beeps at even a little bit of smoke.
Turn up the microphone's sensitivity so it picks up quiet sounds.
This scale has high sensitivity and shows tiny weight changes.
Similarresponsiveness
Note
- 5In a test, how well it finds the people who truly have a condition.
Like a net with small holes that catches almost every fish.
The new screening test had high sensitivity and missed very few cases.
Low sensitivity means the test misses many people who are sick.
Similarrecall
Note
- 6How strongly camera film reacts to light.
Like skin that burns faster in strong sunshine.
This film has high sensitivity, so it works well in low light.
Lower sensitivity gives sharper pictures in bright sun.
Similarspeed
Note
Practice
Can you tell the meanings of sensitivity apart? Answer 3 quick questions from this page, or write your own sentence and AI will check it.
Origin
It comes from the word "sensitive" plus the ending "-ity."